CONSERVATION OF BUILDING MATERIALS

Design for recycling has to be balanced against the advantages of design for longer life.
Reversible cementations processes could confer enormous advantages if the reversibility
was safely controllable, but this represents a very formidable scientific problem. The
advantages of composite materials need to be balanced against the difficulties of
effective recycling, for example reinforced concrete. The building as an energy
conservation device also needs more emphasis
MATERIALS
Resource efficiency can be accomplished by utilizing materials that meet the following criteria:
• Recycled content: products with identifiable recycled content, including postindustrial content with a preference for
postconsumer content.
• Natural, plentiful or renewable: materials harvested from sustainably managed sources and preferably have an
independent certification (e.g., Certified wood) and are certified by an independent third party.
• Resource efficient manufacturing process: products manufactured with resource-efficient processes including reducing
energy consumption, minimizing waste (recycled, recyclable and or source reduced product packaging), and reducing
greenhouse gases.
• Locally available: building materials, components, and systems found locally or regionally saving energy and resources
in transportation to the project site.
• Salvaged, refurbished, or remanufactured: includes saving a material from disposal and renovating, repairing, restoring,
or generally improving the appearance, performance, quality, functionality, or value of a product.
• Reusable or recyclable: select materials that can be easily dismantled and reused or recycled at the end of their useful
life.
• Recycled or recyclable product packaging: products enclosed in recycled content or recyclable packaging.
• Durable: materials that are longer lasting or are comparable to conventional products with long life expectancies.
CONSERVATION OF ARCHITECTURAL SURFACES
BASIC PRINCIPLES
• The surfaces of brittle porous building materials (stone, plaster, stucco, concrete) that are exposed to the external
environment undergo many types of decay

• processes that are conditioned by several factors, the most relevant ones being:
A. The composition and porosity of the material;

B. Its previous history (works, restorations, accidents);

C. The type of exposure (climatic and micro-climatic conditions);

D. Vegetal and/or microbiological colonization.

The main steps in the sequence of operations aimed at the conservation of architectural surfaces are:

• cleaning;

• consolidation;

• protection.
CLEANING OF ARCHITECTURAL SURFACES
• To remove potentially dangerous material deposited by previous decay processes (e.G., Soluble
salts or gypsum-rich crusts);

• To remove extraneous material adhering loosely to the surface (e.G., Dust or remains of
earlier treatments)

a) Laser cleaning

b) Mechanical cleaning

c) Cleaning by compresses or poultices

d) Water cleaning
WATER CLEANING

• Water is an efficient cleaning agent for architectural surfaces in polluted city atmospheres because it can
dissolve the gypsum crystals that consolidate the dark crusts.

• Water sprayed in very fine droplets is said tobe “nebulized,” and an even finer variety is called
“atomized”; nebulized water is good enough for architectural cleaning.

• Another advantage of nebulization is that the amount of water that is being used is small, so the risk
of impregnating the whole masonry structure with water is reduced.
CLEANING BY COMPRESSES OR POULTICES
• The use of substances that can dissolve incrustations by some sort of chemical reaction is the next option
when water cleaning fails to produce an acceptable result in a reasonable time.
The use of strong acids or strong bases, which was and still is a
normal practice in the building industry, is not applicable to historic preservation, not only because of the possible
damage to the original surface but also because salts are invariably formed as a by-
product of the cleaning reactions and are a likely cause of future damage

• It is not easy to eliminate them from a porous surface, even with a good final wash.
CONSOLIDATION OF ARCHITECTURAL SURFACES

• When the surface of a building material is at the point of losing cohesion, or adhesion to the masonry core, it must
be consolidated not only for aesthetic reasons but also to ensure the correct conservation
of the entire structure.

1. Adhesion of detached parts

2. Consolidation by surface grouting (non-structural surface injections)

3. Filling of cracks and voids

4. Consolidation by impregnation
PROTECTION
ARCHITECTURAL PROTECTION

• The decay of materials on the external surface of buildings depends in large part upon the action of
rainwater flowing on them or of moisture migrating inside their pores.
WHY CONSERVATION OF BUILDING MATERIAL

• There is a strong relationship between heritage conservation and the architecture programs, which meant of learning
how to deal with heritage, conservation processes, and how to design with understanding history, culture and values,
graduating the qualified architects, who are responsible for the design to preserve, reuse, reconstruct, and implement
the conservation projects.

• Old buildings teach us about the history that happened before we were born and promotes the respect for those who
lived in different times and different societies. Architectural monuments cultivates pride of our past and heritage
making us unique in the world.

• Economy is an important merit of keeping the old. Architectural monuments are great attractors of tourists. Everyone
likes to experience the “spirit” of the place, which most often is represented through architecture.

• It is environmentally friendly. Building new green buildings and energy-saving houses is important, but restoring the old
ones is as “green” as it can get. Preservation and restoration is the ultimate form of recycling. It helps reduce
construction waste and save the energy that is usually spent on manufacturing and transporting building materials and
tools.
CONSERVING BUILDING MATERIAL WITH REFERENCE
TO SUSTAINABILITY
• Architectural conservation and sustainability discipline focused on sustainable development and heritage conservation. These
have become guiding principles for our modern industrial society. With increased awareness of the importance of economic,
social and environmental sustainability, expertise in sustainable green building design and heritage conservation is now in high
demand. Graduates in architectural conservation and sustainability apply their knowledge in sustainability to the design and
retrofit of new and existing buildings, considering areas such as life-cycle costs, impact of selected materials, and energy
needs and consumption.

• They also bring their expertise to the burgeoning field of conservation, as more buildings receive heritage designation and
are in need of repair and adaptation.

• Sustainability is broadly divided into three overlapping aspects, covering environmental, economic and social requirements
and the need to bring them all into harmony. When they were first built and inhabited, all pre-industrial buildings were by
definition sustainable and zero carbon in both construction and use.

• The primary energy sources were human and animal and the materials such as timber sustainable by their very nature.
Building, heating and cooking were almost entirely fuelled by sustainably sourced biomass. There is no inherent conflict
between the retention of historic buildings and the principles of sustainability